Reconnect WiFi on Denon S-32 Internet Radio, How To

Now and then, you must change the default WiFi network on the Denon S-32 internet radio. Why? Because perhaps your WiFi network has changed SSID names or passwords. Or, your office IT guru asks you to move your S-32 to a less busy network. Or, perhaps you were connecting to a city Wi-Fi hotspot that has since gone silent. In any case, setting the saved network is simple. We’ll walk through how to do that below. We show how to reconnect WiFi network on this radio below. Plus, we also include pictures of the radio’s screen faces, as seen during this task.

You can switch from a still-working network, or from a broken one. In either case, the WiFi setup routine stays the same. Here, we detail the case where the radio fails to connect to a WiFi network that worked before. We then show how to set a new, in-range network.

Note that reconnect WiFi does not erase any settings you programmed into your radio at the Denon Internet Radio Portal. Once you reconnect WiFi, your stations once more appear on the radio.

Before starting, make sure your desired WiFi network is on the air. Then, attach the included WiFi antenna to the antenna port on S-32 back. Point it straight up. If you’re not sure about the network, test it first with another WiFi device.

Denon S-32 internet radio, in OFF (standby) mode. Powered off.

How to Reconnect WiFi Network on the Denon S-32 Internet Radio

1. Reconnect WiFi: Turn On the S-32

When you tap the power button, you’ll see the “Please Wait” message. The bottom line, shows several status messages as the S-32 powers up. In the next picture, the “Checking function…,” message displays.

The “Please Wait” message blinks for up to a minute. A long message display time here shows that S-32 cannot connect to the previously used Wi-Fi network. However, if linking had succeeded, the radio would play the last played station. However, when the “Server Error” message discussed next appears, the connection failed. The radio could not reach the saved WiFi network. So read on to find out how to change that saved WiFi network.

2. Reconnect WiFi: Last Internet Station Played Does Not Play Now.

The S-32 can take many seconds while connecting. But after that long “Please wait,” message as shown above, it gives up trying. Then, you set the “Server error,” text, as pictured next.

This message stays onscreen for up to ten seconds. Then, a kind of “Idle” screen replaces it, shown next. This screen normally displays when a station stream is playing. It shows the station name, the percent fullness of the buffer, and how long the stream has been playing. When a blank screen shows, you know it’s time to reconnect WiFi.

Denon S-32 Wireless Music System, displaying its Idle screen.

3. Reconnect WiFi: Navigate to the S-32’s Source Menu

Press the Source button when the radio is on, as pictured below. This brings up the Sources Selection menu.

7. Reconnect WiFi: Enter the Network Setting Menu

Press and quickly release the volume knob. This brings up the Network Setup menu, as shown next.

Denon S-32 Internet Stream Player, showing its Network Setting menu.

8. Reconnect WiFi: Scan for available Wi-Fi Networks

Select the Search menu item by turning the volume knob, as shown in the previous picture. Then, quickly press and release the volume knob. This starts a 2.4 Ghz. band scan for in-range WiFi b/g networks. During this scan, the S-32 displays three dots that flash on and off. This scanning screen appears in the next picture.

The radio sees neither Wireless N nor Wireless AC access points. Nor will it see any network that broadcasts on the 5 Ghz. band. Therefore, to play this radio wirelessly, you’ll need an in-range 2.4 Ghz. 802.11 b/g router / access point.

After several seconds, the net scan completes. Then, the S-32 lists the in-range WiFi networks it found. These appear on the “Select the AP” screen, as shown next. AP is short for WiFi Access Point.

Turn the volume knob left and right, until you select the desired WiFi network. How do you select a network? Spin the volume knob. This moves the highlight bar around through the list. Then, stop when the selection bar rests on the network you want. Here, we picked the 937T681J4059H_2G WiFi network. This is the first one on the list. So, the S-32 selects it by default.

10. Reconnect WiFi: Initiate the Connection with the New WiFi Network

Then, quickly press and release the volume knob. The radio then displays the “Connecting to network” message. Next, after a pause, the system displays the “Enter Security Key” screen, as shown next.

When that network shows as “open,” the radio immediately connects to it without password prompting. But we strongly suggest that you secure your Wi-Fi access points with WPA2 AES.

Denon S-32 Radio, displaying the -Input Security Key- editor screen.

When the “Input Security Key” screen displays, it may show one or more letters hidden by stars (*). See this in the previous picture. Someone connected successfully with this password for the last WiFi network. The radio stores this password, and you see it here. Skip ahead to the next step if the password for your new WiFi network matches this one. Otherwise, read on.

If the password for your new network differs from the old one, then erase it. E.g. Press and release, the Minus / Rewind key once for each letter you wish to erase. When finished, find the minus key near the volume knob. Press and release it until all the stars disappear. The “Enter Security Key” screen then looks as follows, with a blank password field.

11. Reconnect WiFi: Enter the Security Key (Password) for the New WiFi Network

First, enter each password character. Turn the volume knob left and right to get each character you want. When that character appears at the insert point, stop turning the volume knob. Next, press the Plus / Forward key to place that character into the password buffer. This also moves the cursor to the next character position to fill.

Repeat this process for each character you wish to enter, until all the characters in the password have been entered. After we entered ours, the “Input Security Key” screen looked as follows.

Denon S-32 Internet Radio, showing new security key entered.

When you enter the last character of the security key, do not press the Plus / Forward key. See above, how the last password character entered, the ‘1’, still shows. When done, quickly tap the volume knob. This ends password entry. Then, the radio submits that password to the network. More details in next step.

When you press the volume knob here, you’ll then see the “Detail Setting” screen appear, as shown next.

12. Reconnect WiFi: Make the Network Connection

Then, quickly tap the volume knob. The S-32 then tries to log into the new WiFi network. It puts up the following screen, that says, “Wireless Setup, Connecting, Please Wait”. This screen also provides status text on the bottom line. In detail, these show connect process status.

Meanwhile, you may see other status updates too, such as “Assigning Network”, “Checking Information”, and “Setting Parameter”.

Around fifteen seconds later, the radio completes the reconnect WiFi process.

Typically, reconnect WiFi takes a somewhat long time. Why? Because besides reconnecting WiFi, the S-32 also talks to the Radio Demon cloud servers. Ordinarily, these can respond slowly at times, which lengthens this process a bit.

After a few seconds, the S-32 returns you to the “Network Setting” menu. The radio selects the “Exit” menu item by default in this menu. Now, you could navigate to the “Detail” item to see the particulars about the current Wi-Fi connection. However, we leave this as an exercise for so-inclined readers.

Instead, we just press the volume knob on “Exit.” The S-32 then takes you to its main menu. Once there, you can select from your favorites groups, and play your added stations. If this menu displays, as shown next, then you have successfully reconnected to WiFi.

13. Reconnect WiFi: Play a Station, Just to be Sure

Finally, verify that the radio correctly plays an internet audio stream. To explain, we first went into Favorites. Then, we found the KYW News Radio 1060 stream. Then, we pressed the volume knob to play it.

To conclude, the reconnect WiFi process worked if the radio stream plays correctly.